Being a patient where you work

[cupcake25]

I was just wondering how many nurses would actually want to be a patient in the same hospital where they work. Recently a nurse I work with was a patient in the hospital where we both work and another nurse was looking up her information in the electronic medical record. I felt what this nurse did was terrible. Sometimes we also have doctor's wives in the hospital and I have seen people looking lab results and other information. What do you think about this?

[Dolce, RN]

for example: im pregnant. just found out last week. and guess what, everyone in our hospital knows. they are even asking my husband about it, he works there too. people from departments far from mine, who work in medical records. now if thats not alot of bull i don't know what is.

okay, that is just wrong. :angryfire

[truern]

I recently had major surgery at my hospital and wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. I work at a small offshoot of the larger "mother ship" and everybody knows everybody. I had the most wonderful experience!

One of my clinical instructors from school spent the night with me postop. I had a fellow grad for my nurse that night. I knew the nurses that took care of me.

I would do it again....as a matter of fact, I AM sometime this summer.

[Kiren]

at the hospital i am currently working at the charting is computerized and you cannot look at anyone's chart unless you are caring for them directly. i have heard of people being fired for unauthorized access. nurses can only view charts of the patients on their units all other charts are locked out. if you must access the chart of a patient who is not on your unit you have to contact the it dept. to get an override and you'd better have a darn good reason for it too.

[midcom]

If I'm ever a patient where I work, which I'm going to have to be because that's where my insurance pays, or if I'm in a trauma where they are going to send me, I'm going to look up who looked up my file electronically and get them fired and make a big stink out of it.

It's appalling in this electronic age, nurses, whom are respected as "the most honest profession" can't keep their nose out of their coworkers charts.

I know that people are going to talk, that's just human nature, and coworkers would be concerned, but to violate privacy like that is wrong.

I think that's a great idea! Don't they realize they leave a trail? I know in our system, there is a button that says something like, "other practitioners who have accessed this information" and anyone who has accesssed that page is listed. That's one way the powers that be can tell if you look up your own information. At many institutions, checking your own labs & other information is grounds for dismissal.

I am receiving chemo right now & have a weekly CBC done in our lab and the results are faxed to my oncologist, who is not in our system. I am supposed to get a copy of the results myself so I know where my numbers stand and can adjust my life by those results, but I have to get another nurse to look them up & print them out for me or I could get fired. I would hope that looking up information for curiosity sake would also get someone in big trouble.

I work in a clinic & 5 years ago, before I became a nurse, had a colonoscopy done by the gastro for this clinic. Last week my husband took a message at home while I was at work. It was from his office staff reminding me that it was time to schedule the next one. The next day I worked for that physician as a float. I have no intention of letting him get to know me that well!

Dixie

[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

i received great care in my own hospital (back in fl). the only sticky issue was visitors--i did not want to see anyone who i had not given birth to or married!!! (major abominal surgery, mso4 pca, bruising--i was not my usual "perky" self!)

of course, all my co-workers wanted to stop by and say hi. luckily, my nurses were great gate-keepers, and really enforced the "no visitors" sign i had brought with me for the door!!

i heard several co-workers outside the door, insisting that the sign didn't apply to them, but they never got any further, i was spared having to be "nice" when i felt like i'd been run over by a bus!!

[Katie82, RN]

I was a practice administrator in a Family Medicine Practice. When I arrived, most of my 18 employees also received medical care at that practice. It was very convenient for the employees - just pull your PCP aside and ask him/her to look at your throat or write a prescription, but very bad for standards of care issues. I finally got tired of the docs complaining to me about staff taking advantage that I had to send out a directive that staff would have to choose a PCP at one of our other locations. Needless to say, no one was happy about that.

[carachel2]

At our hospital, the electronic medical records are monitored *meticulously.* You'd better not even THINK about opening records on someone if you are not involved in their care. At my moms hospital (she works in the lab) they recently had a HUGE audit/roundup of staff members who were doing the very thing. Administrators admitted fake patients under real names of people who worked at the hospital...CEO's, managers and staff people. Anyone who "took a peek" was promptly and swiftly called in for "counseling." That is a huge HPPA violation. I think she even said a few were fired. I applaud her hospital for doing that.

Recently we were discussing the hospitalization of a well-known physician and expressing our sadness at his health. I was ASTONISHED when one of my coworkers went to pull up the EMR and was about to actuall access his chart. I flat out told her "one more punch of the keyboards and you are totally setting yourself up to be fired." Even if they wouldn' t have caught her via the access records I would have totally and without any regret reported her.

If I had a fellow staff member who did what you described, I would be at the nurse managers office first thing next morning. ZERO tolerance.

And yes, I go to a different hospital than where I work when I need medical care. My specialist prefers the other hospital for a variety of reasons and I've just always felt it is important to keep my records all in the same place.

[Drysolong]

I would never want to be a patient at the hospital where I work. Although I am sure I would receive great care I just really prefer to maintain my privacy.

I completely agree!!